Best essential oils for sleep

There are more than 5000 varieties of essential oil, in this work we have carefully selected some best essential oil for sleep. Having good sleep is very important to human health and general wellbeing. Many people have trouble sleeping at one time or another. However, if it is temporary it is normal. But if having problem sleeping at night is regular and interferes with your daily activities, you may be suffering from a sleep disorder. Sleep disorder can cause serious problem on your mental and physical health, it is associated with memory loss, mood swing, energy drained, poor work performance, increase rate of accidents and weight gain.

The well documented experiment of 1960 about a 17 years old high school student shows that after 11 days of sleep deprivation he began to show symptoms of memory loss, hallucinating, speech problem, vision impairment and energy drained.

The prolong use of popular sleeping pills to force yourself in to sleeping can only cause further deterioration to your health. When you take sleeping pills to correct your insomnia, your system gets use to the drug, and most cases you need higher or stronger doses to get the same result. This become problem over a long period of time which could result to serious health complications.

The use of natural alternative ways to make you fall asleep easily should be the desirable way that everyone should rely on, this brings to mind the use of essential oil to help our body respond naturally to a state of good night rest.

Essential oil does not only ensure you have lovely night rest, it also very helpful for your complete wellness. It has been use for ages aromatically and topically to attends to basic health needs of human.

One good thing about finding the best essential oil of your choice when it comes to sleeping time oil, is that essential oil when used properly makes you sleep soundly and you wake up feeling good and energetic.

One oil may work well for one person, but may not work well for another person, this may be due to fact that different individual has different reaction to the scent or may be allergic to the aroma of a particular essential oil. So, keep experimenting with different essential oil until you find that essential oil that deeply agree with your body when it comes to sleep time essential oil

I have also giving some natural tips for good and sound sleep at the bottom of this work that may work wells for you if you desire to have good night rest.

Before we begging let simply look in to what may be the causes of sleep disorder.

Causes of sleep interference:

Sleep disorder are mostly those factors or signs that may interfere with normal sleep time or sleep duration during the night. How much sleep time do you really need to be categorized as healthy sleep?

According to the National Sleep foundation of America, an infant child between 0-3 month old needs at least 14 to 17 hours of sleep, 4-11 months needs about 12-15 hours of sleep, toddler 1-2 years needs 11-14 hours of sleep, pre-school age 3-5years needs about 10-13 hours of sleep, school age 6-13 years needs about 9-11 hours of sleep, teen 14-17 years needs about 8-10 hours of sleep, young adult 18 to 25 years old needs at least 7-9 hours of sleep, adult 26-64 years old needs about 7-9 hours of sleep, older adult 65 year plus needs at between 5-9 hours of sleep.

From the detailed given above it is recommended that sleep periods or duration for all the age group may be reduce by a digit for example an adult between 26-64 years of age may have about 6 hours of sleep which is still normal according to sleep expert.

What may cause sleep interference includes:

Sickness or ill health

Taking late evening or late-night coffee or other stimulant drinks like energy drinks

Too much of alcoholic drinks

External lights, electronics devices like your sound system and including alarm clock could also interfere with your normal sleep at night.

Watching late night movies or engage in other activities while you are supposed to stick with a good sleeping time schedule.

Also stress and fatigue could reduce the quality of your sleep

Best essential oil for sleep at quick glance:

Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia)

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia)

Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)

Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata)

Vetiver (Vetivera zizanioides)

Frankincense (Boswella Sacra)

Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica)

Sweet Marjoram (Origanum marjorana)

Sandalwood (Santalum album)

Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)

Rose (Rosa damascene)

Clary sage (Salvia sclaria)

Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)

Patchouli oil (Pogostemon cablin)

Neroli citrus (Citrus aurantium)

Benzoin (Styrax benzoin)

Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum)

Lavender essential oil:

Lavender is the best essential oil for sleep and most popular oil of the flowering plant of mint family, lamiaceae. It has a fresh, sweet, floral aroma that is calming and refreshing to the brain and mind.

Lavender is use to relieve your anxiety and depression which could affect the quality of your sleep. Lavender blends well with some other essential oil which gives you good scent and improve the quality of your sleep time.

2 drops of lavender + 2 drops of roman chamomile is also a good blend that could give you sound sleep.

Bergamot essential oil:

Bergamot oil is one of the favorite among the best essential oils for sleep. The oil is extracted from the peel or the rind of the bergamot fruit. It has a spicy and sweet citrus like scent.

Bergamot oil is very good for soothing nervous tension, relieve from anxiety, depression and stress. thereby enhancing smoothness of your bedtime.

Bergamot essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Bergamot blends well with some other essential oil which gives it a pleasing spicy-sweet floral fragrance.

Diffuse:

3 drops of bergamot oil + 3 drops lavender

3 drops of bergamot + 2 drops of ylang-yalang

2 drops of bergamot + 2 drops of rosemary

3 drops of bergamot + 2 drops of sandalwood

4 drops of bergamot + 3 drops of clary sage

3 drops of bergamot + 3 drops of sweet orange

3 drops of bergamot + 3 drops of vetiver.

Roman chamomile essential oil:

Roman chamomile is one of the must friendly essential oil for all ages. It has a warm, sweet floral scent that is calming to the mind and body. It calming effect makes it a favorable oil for colic children or children that have trouble sleeping at night.

Roman chamomile essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

2 drops roman chamomile + 2 drops lavender + 1 drop sweet marjoram

2 drops roman chamomile + 2 drops clary sage + 2 drops sweet marjoram

3 drops roman chamomile + 2 drops bergamot + 2 drop frankincense

Ylang Ylang essential oil:

Ylang ylang oil is extracted from the flowers of the tropical ylang ylang tree. It has sweet calm floral scent. It is a favorable oil use for calming and ease feelings of nervousness, anger, tension, stress and fatigue.

Ylang ylang flower is highly reverend in several cultures as romantic, it is use to decorate the bed during the first night of newly wedded couple.

When use at bed time this oil ensures you have smooth night rest by stimulating sleep hormone and calming your whole body.

Ylang ylang essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

3 drops of ylang ylang + 3 drops of Patchouli oil

2 drops of ylang ylang + 2 drops of lavender +2 drops of patchouli

Vetiver essential oil:

Vetiver oil is one of those oil that is has a very strong earthly floral scent. Many people have different description about how vetiver smells. Some said vetiver has a scent “like dried field grass in a clump of dirt”, “it smells earthly like clean, moist dirt, but with fresh quality that is hard to describe”.

While most people simply believe that vetiver smells like tobacco. But generally, I have not seen an oil that has a deep earthly smell like vetiver, you either love or hate it when you start using it for the first time

In overall vetiver with it deep and earthly scent, is very good at calming both the mind and the body, helping you to fall asleep easily.

Vetiver essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Frankincense essential oil:

Frankincense oil is extracted from the resin of the milky white sap from the bark of the boswellia sacara or boswellia carterii.

Frankincense oil has a strong, sweet, woody spicy scent that is calming to the body and the mind. This oil is psychologically grounding, calming and stabilizing that can naturally make you fall asleep without much trouble. It reliefs stress and anxiety.

Frankincense essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

2 drops of frankincense + 2 drops of lavender

2 drops of frankincense + 2 drops of vetiver

Cedarwood essential oil:

Cedarwood essential oil has a warm woody scent that is relaxing and calming to the mind. It grounding aroma induce the release of serotonin in the brain which is converted to melatonin which induce peaceful sleep.

This oil is highly reverend for its ability to relieve stress and anxiety. It gives the body the strength to recover fast from depressive feeling when used properly. Among these are the reason why it is recommended for people who suffered from chronic depression.

Cedarwood essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse

3 drops of cedarwood + 3 drops of lavender

Sweet Marjoram essential oil:

Sweet marjoram essential oil is distilled from the flowering tops of origanum majorana from the labiatae family. It has a sweet spicy and warm pleasant aroma.

It produces calming and sedative effect on the body and mind when blended well with oil like lavender and chamomile.

Sweet marjoram essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Sandalwood essential oil:

Sandalwood oil is obtained by steam distillation from the various species of the wood of sandalwood.

It has a grounding woody-floral aroma and rich in sesqueterpenes a naturally occurring chemicals present in most essential oil that provide support for our brain health.

Sandalwood oil provide support for our emotional wellness by calming and sedative effect it has on the body and mind. It helps reduce anxiety and depression therefore uplifting your spirit making you to fall asleep easily when use before bed time.

Sandalwood essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

3 drops of sandalwood + 3 drops of lavender

3 drops of sandalwood + 2 drops bergamot + 2 drops ylang ylang

Sweet orange essential oil:

Sweet orange is extracted from the peel of the sweet orange fruits. This is usually done by cold pressing. It has a juicy-fresh citrus aroma that is uplifting but yet calming to the body and soul.

Orange oil is good at calming nerves, eliminate fatigue, stress, depression and other signs that could interrupt your sleep.

Coriander essential oil:

Coriander oil is steam distilled from the seed of the cilantro plant. It has a sweet spicy herbaceous aroma that is soothing to the mind. Coriander is commonly use as spice in food and as herbs. It is tranquilizing and calm. It inspires good sleep.

Coriander essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

3 drops of coriander + 3 drops of lavender

Rose essential oil:

Rose oil is distilled from the petal of the Rosa damascene. It has a rich sweet floral aroma that is very fascinating and romantic. Rose oil is very strong anti-depressant, anti-stress and anti-anxiety.

The flagrance of this oil is so strong that it soothes your brain directly immediately you have contact with. It uplifts your mood and instill calmness in your body and mind. It is use as relaxant before bedtime which makes you fall asleep easily after a hectic working hour.

Rose essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

3 drops of rose + 4 blends of lavender

Clary sage essential oil:

Clary sage is steam distilled from the flowering plant of Salvia sclarea. It has a sweet warm herbal scent. Best known for its calming properties. it is of one the favorite essential oil use for relaxation, anti-depressant and for soothing nervous tension. Inhaling clary sage before bed time uplifts your moods and promote good sleep.

Geranium essential oil:

Geranium essential oil is another favorite essential oil when it comes to selecting the best oil for sleep. It has a calm and penetrating floral scent. It helps to ease nervousness and depression when inhale.

Neroli citrus essential oil:

Neroli citrus essential oil is cold or steam distilled from the orange blossoms the bigarade orange, it has citrusy, flora fragrance.

Neroli is very effective in the treatment of depression, anxiety and stress. When use at bed time, it gives an atmosphere of calm and peace. Setting the mind in a peaceful and relaxing mood, which will ensure you have great night rest

Neroli essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good night sleep

Benzoin essential oil:

Benzoin oil sometimes called gum benzoin like frankincense oil is extracted from the resin of the styrax tree. It has sweet, warming, deep vanilla-like scent.

It is calming to the mind and soothing to nerves, greatly relieving you of depressing and anxiety. It is one of the desirable essential oil to be use at bed time.

Benzoin essential oil blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

2 drops of benzoin + 2 drops rose oil + 3 drops bergamot

2 drops of benzoin + 3 drops frankincense + 2 drops rose

Jasmine essential oil:

Jasmine essential oil technically called jasmine absolute has warm strong floral aroma that is soothing, relaxing, uplifting and healing. It has been use for ages for romance, and for beauty and attraction.

For those having sleepless night, jasmine has a very strong sedative effects. It induces calmness and peaceful mind, ease your anxiety and make your night a pleasurable one.

Jasmine essential blends diffuser recipe for good sleep

Diffuse:

3 drops of jasmine + 3 drops lavender + 3 drops frankincense

Topical application of essential oil for sleep:

Essential oil can be applied topically on the trigger point of your body like the bottoms of your feet, behind the ears, on the wrist and back of your neck to uplift your mood for desirable sleep.

The acceptable standard of applying essential oil topically is to dilute some quantities carrier oil with measured quantities of any essential oil of your choice, the ratio is almost the same for all essential oil, except few.

For adult:

3 drops of essential oil +1 table spoon of carrier oil (1% dilution)

6 drops of essential oil +1 table spoon of carrier oil (2% dilution)

12 drops of essential oil +1 table spoon of carrier oil (3% dilution)

This dilution depends on the type of essential oil you are using and how it reacts on individual skin. I advise you to do a skin patch test before using any essential oil topically on your skin.

For children: Because of the sensitive nature of children skin and the reaction that may occur, diluting essential oil for children should be in different quantity to that of adult and also according to

Pillow mist: This is another way by which you feel the beautiful aroma of your essential oil for a nice uninterrupted sleep. To make a pillow mist, get a glass spray bottle add 20-25 drops of your favorite essential oil with 45ml of vodka stir properly before adding 45ml of water. Cap the spray bottle and shake very well to mix properly.

Spray the mixture lightly on your pillow like 5 minutes before sleep time.

How to get good sleep by other natural methods

Hold on to a regular sleeping schedule: our body adjust fast to whatever training we give to it. When you stick with regular sleeping time schedule your body signals you to go to bed when that time comes and you wake up at the right time feeling happy and delighted with much energy.

This schedule should too late in to the night, at least you must work with the minimum recommended sleeping hours for both adult and children alike. So, it is very important for parents to schedule the time for their children to go to bed. This has a direct impact on their performance in school.

Reduce the consumption of coffee and other energy drinks: This is very important especially in hours close to down. If you must take coffee or energy drinks, do not consume them late evening as they contain caffeine. It is noted that more than 500-600 mg of caffeine a day may lead to insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, irritability and increasing the rate of heartbeat.

Keep away from alcohol totally if you can before bed time: Taking alcohol before bed time is of no use to you, must people take alcohol as a sleeping aid, but it has ruled out by the expert. Alcohol may seem to be helping you to sleep, as it induces sleep, but overall it is more disruptive to sleep, particularly in the second half of the night.

According to some findings, alcohol does allow healthy people to fall asleep quicker and sleep more deeply for a while, but it reduces the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. And the more alcohol you take before bed, the more pronounced these effects. REM sleep happens about 90 minutes after we fall asleep. It is the stage of sleep when people dream, and it’s thought to be restorative. Disruption in REM sleep may cause daytime drowsiness, poor concentration.

Switch off all electronic that produce sound including the alarm clock: Switch off all object that produce noise that interrupt with your sleep at night. Sound or noise usually interrupt your sleep especially in the stage 2 of sleep.

In a study published in the Noise and Health journal shows the link between nighttime environmental noise exposure and cardiovascular disease, and that low-level noise may impact health negatively due to sleep disturbance.

Avoid eating spicy and heavy food before bed time: eating spicy and heavy food shortly before bed time has been known to be one of those factors that may cause poor sleep. Spicy and heavy food takes time to digest, we need much energy and long hours to digest this food and if go to bed too early after a meal of spicy and heavy food, your body spends energy digesting food instead allowing your body and your brain to relax in the second and third stage of sleep. Instead of eating of eating spicy and heavy food shortly before bedtime, eat food rich in vitamins and minerals, they easily digested and reduces the burden on the brain.

Engage your body in some physical exercise: It very import that you do some exercise at least three or four times in a week to keep your body in great shape. Exercise especially aerobic exercise such as walking or cycling can improve the quality of sleep at night.

However, while having it mind that exercise could improve our sleep, it is very important that study how our body responds to the different hours of exercise. If it the morning that is more suitable to your body for this light exercise no problem and if you find it helpful to you in the evening better.

Arrange your bed room well: there is a direct relation between the arrangement of your room and the quality of sleep you have. If your room is too stuffy and congested, it prevents good aeration and could sometimes smells unpleasantly, bad odors and stuffy room could greatly interfere with your sleep.

What you need do, make sure your room are nitely arrange and remove those stuffs that may block ventilation. Use nice essential oil freshener that are healthy to spice the scent of your room.

Lay your bed well with colorful and clean lining: You should look for beautiful and bright color materials of bed lining that appeal to you. Sleep is a psychological issue so you must take care of everything around you especially in your bedroom to maintain a good level of psychological balance.

Get a good mattress that is soft but firm without much sagging: Replace your mattress if it is worn out. Make sure you do not a sagging mattress, it adds to your problem by depriving of the good sleep that you desire.

When you sleep on a mattress that is sagged it rob body of the comfort that it should have, you will find out you usually turn from side to side looking for a comfortable spot. Your mattress should be soft but firm and every position to you lie should be comfortable to you.

Getsoft and firm pillow: not only mattress but your pillow should also be carefully selected. When you use a hard and heavy pillow, it strains your neck and make your neck and your head heavy. So always look for a pillow that is soft and comforting to lie your head.

Take a cool and refreshing bath at least 3o minutes before bed time: when you take a cool bath some minute before bed time, it set you in the mood of drowsiness. It refreshing your whole body and you remain calm until you fall asleep.

Use herbs like chamomile tea or valerian: These herbs are favorable herbs when it comes sleeping aids. Chamomile is popularly regarded as mild tranquilizer, it induces sleep hormone. Valerian, popularly known as valerian root is another great herb use for many centuries ago as natural sleeping aids. These herbs do not only help you sleep well especially when taken in about 30 minutes before bed time, it improves your overall health conditions.

Disclaimer:

Please note, this article is only for information purpose. All information contains there in are not meant to replace your professional health advise. Always see your physician before you use any essential oil.